Improvement in the manufacture of steel



a UNITED ST TES PATENT? O I JuLIUsBAun, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW Y RK],

IMPROVEMENT INITHEI MANUFACTURE ass-rese l. 3

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 47,5 [0, dated May 2,ltftl'. f

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JULIUS BAUR, of the city,county, and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Manufacture of Steel; and I hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

I have discovered that when a small quantity of aluminium is combinedwith honor steel the quality of the latter is greatly improved, and theyare rendered tough, pliable, and capable of being made very hard; and myinvention consists in effecting this combination in such a manner as toproduce these results, or such a part of them as may be desired. Oxideof aluminium is found in a pure or nearly pure state, and may in thisform be employed for the purpose; but, so far as I am at present aware,it exists in this condition only in small quantities, and is difficultand expensive to procure, and therefore, in putting myinventionpractically into use, I prefer to obtain it y from cryolite andanalogous substances which contain it, and which maybe procured withsuitable economy and in sufficient quantities.

My invention may be advantageously applied in making steel in theordinary steel-.

makers crucibles, and when thus used I have found it to be a successfulmanner of employing it to take the requisite quantity of cryolite orother aluminium-containing substance and cause it, by means of agentsacting chemically,

to be decomposed during the processof pro-' ducing the steel, wherebythe aluminium will be readily formed in a pure or nearly pure state, andwill then combine with the iron placed in the crucible and produce thedesired effect.

The iron which I use may be either wroughtiron, puddled iron, orordinary pig-iron; and

to enable others to practice. my invention, I will describe it as I haveapplied it with success to the making of a superior steel from what isknown as Peru? iron taken in the wrought state.

For fifty pounds of Peru iron I employ five ounces ofcryolite, threeounces of oxide of iron, two and one-half ounces of manganese, fiveounces of vegetable charcoal, two ounces of animal charcoal, and one andone-half ounce of phosphate of lime. These materials I place together ina crucible of the ordinary construction, and apply heat, as usual.Oryolite is a fluoride of aluminium and a fluoride of sodium,

orine in this fluoride of aluminium is removed by a part of the iron, orby some of the elements time the carbon, or most of it, unites withtheiron, imparting to it therequisitesteely prop- 1 erties, while thesodiumcontainedin thecryolite acts to flux out or remove thesiliciousconstituents of the iron, and the oxide of manga, nese and thephosphate of lime also operate to l y carry off. impurities. I prefertouse animal charcoal with the vegetable charcoal, in order to obtain asmall quantity of nitrogen, which is desirable for good steel.. Theproduct thus prepared I have tested and found to be a superior articlefor tool-steel. Whemhowever, y I I desire to make a low steel suitablefor springs and analogous purposes, I havelsuccessfully prepared it bytakingPeru iron, as before, and varying theproportion of the oxideofiron employed, using six ounces of it,instead of three, as in theforegoing statement of ingredients, the

other materials remaining as above given.

It will of course be understood that it is difficult, if not impossible.to state in a single specification the variations made necessary in pthe proportions of the ingredients-which remploy, according to thedifferences in the con-y l stitution and quality of the iron us'ed; butthese variations do not affect/the principle of my invention, and willbe readily ascertained by, those skilled in the art. H Ihavealreadygiven the proportions which I prefer rtr one kind of iron takenas an illustration of my invention, y 1 and I may mention that for. mostkinds of y wrought or puddled iron proportions within the followingrange will be found suitable- I that is to say, for every fiftypounds ofiron y y 150.1! four ounces of oxide of iron, fromtone to t ee ounces ofoxide of manganese, from one and onel half to two ounces of phosphate oflime,;froin I i one and one-half to five ounces of vegetable, charcoal,and from one and one-half to five I l from one to five ounces ofcryolite, from on ounces of animal charcoal.

It is also proper to say that though I prefer y to use the oxide ofmanganese and the phos-, l l q phate of lime, because they improvethequality i of the steel, which is the reason why I havev mentioned them,they arenot absolutely necw and as the iron in the crucible melts thefluessary to my invention, and may be omitted; but if they are not useda poorer product will result. Neither is it essential that the carbonemployed should be in the condition of vegetable or animal charcoal, asit may be intro metallic aluminium are to be Varied according to theamount of oxide of aluminium in the clay or diaspore; but this is wellknown to chemists, and need notbe further detailed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

A The abovedescribed process, consisting of combining aluminium withiron in the manufacture of steel, substantially as set forth.

JuLrus BAUR.

Witnesses:

O. L. TOPLIFF, M. M. LIVINGSTON.

